Chapter 26 – Lost Sleep

Tea set her cup of tea down and let out a content sigh. It was only Wednesday but, because she had already finished her essay, this week in class was going to be a piece of cake for her. Most of the other students could be seen trying to get their things together since they had procrastinated until the last second (as always), so Tea was given the opportunity to sit back and watch everything happen.

Taking another sip of her tea, she smiled and closed her eyes before placing her bag on the desk and sifting through her things. Seeing her cell phone, she smirked and thought, "I'm definitely calling Mokuba after school today. Seto Kaiba is not that nice to those he doesn't care about. He wouldn't go out of his way to show me a place like that if he didn't at least consider me a friend…which I guess he has admitted to feeling on numerous occasions. Still, I'm curious to see if it's anything more than that."

It didn't really bother her how she now felt about the CEO. It had been quite a shocker to her system at first, yet now it seemed perfectly natural to be head over heels in love with him. She knew he had quite a past to work out, however, so she wasn't going to push it so far that it would end up backfiring on her. Still, a little hug here and a little wink there could get her far, couldn't it?

"No…" she suddenly thought, frowning. "I can't think like that. I have to be above that if I'm truly going to win over his heart. I can't be like a slutty secretary going after him. I just have to be myself; he knows me well enough to know whether or not I'm full of crap. Besides, Seto's the one that would go after somebody who is real, who acts like themselves even in the face of a multi-billionaire CEO. He doesn't want somebody who will go out of her way to impress him; I should do that just being myself. After all, I haven't let on too many hints about my love for him, and yet we're becoming good friends. I just have to keep doing what I'm doing now if I hope to succeed."

"I wonder if Mokuba will be any help, though. I mean, he knows his brother like the back of his hand, yet Seto is definitely one to be known for his secrets. How I know that all too well… I'm sure he'll help me out with Seto if I ask him to, yet I don't want to be plotting behind Seto's back either. Grrr… Tea, just ask like your damn self! No plotting, no skanky behavior…nothing!!"

"Is everything all right, Miss Gardner?" a familiar voice asked, making Tea look up in surprise to see Mrs. Asuka smiling down at her.

"Y-Yeah," she answered, realizing her hands were now clenched into fists.

"Do you want another cup of tea? There's extra left, and I highly doubt the kids who procrastinated like I told them not to will be drinking any more. They have enough on their minds." She chuckled at this comment, and Tea let out a sigh and nodded her head. "I must admit, I'm not surprised that you and Mr. Kaiba are the only two students who have this done already. That generally seems to be the case."

"I guess so," she replied, not really knowing what to say.

"And to think you two are the ones acting quite strangely…" she continued as she poured the tea into Tea's cup. This statement caught the young girl's attention.

"Strangely?"

"Yes. You are over here clenching and unclenching your hands, and Mr. Kaiba is dead asleep. I'm not sure—"

"He's asleep?" Tea questioned before frowning. "Sorry I interrupted you, but that just seems really out of character for him."

"Well, I was actually going to ask you if you could see what was wrong with him," Mrs. Asuka stated, setting the teapot down on the desk and sitting down in a nearby chair. "You are the only other student done with this essay, and I noticed how you two seem to be getting along a bit better. But it is like you say; Mr. Kaiba is never one to fall asleep during class. He looked dead tired, and since I knew he was already done, I figured it would do no harm to let him rest. Maybe you can go and see what is the matter with him?"

"Last night…" Tea mused as she nodded her head in agreement. Picking up her cup of tea and brown backpack, she asked, "Where is he sleeping? In the nurse's office?"

"No. He's in his usual seat in the back corner there." She turned around and pointed her finger in the direction of the desk, which was surrounded by bookshelves and kept out of sight. "Well, I have to take this tea around to the rest of the kids. I appreciate your concern for him."

Tea watched as her teacher stood back up, picked up her teapot, and began walking through the library, asking the students if they wanted anymore tea. She spun around and walked in the direction of the desk Mrs. Asuka said he was sitting in. "Why would he be so tired?" she wondered as she turned the corner. Sure enough, Seto was dead asleep, his arms crossed on the desk and his head resting on his forearms. His eyes were closed shut, and his mouth was slightly parted. She positioned her backpack on the edge of the desk and sat down in the chair next to Seto, not surprised that the CEO didn't seem to notice.

"I wonder how late he stayed up last night," she thought as she sipped her tea again. "I mean, we weren't out all that late, but then again, I'm sure Mr. CEO here had to go home and do some work for the company. He's known for sleeping very few hours, yet he never falls asleep during school. Did he get any sleep at all, I wonder?"

"What do you want?" a sudden voice asked groggily, jerking her out of her thoughts. Looking over, she watched in surprise as Seto slowly closed his eyes back shut and turned his head around. "I don't want to talk to anybody right now."

"You never want to talk to anybody," she commented.

"Noted. Now go away."

"What's wrong?"

"Why do you always want to know what's wrong with me, Gardner? I'm tired. Now leave me alone."

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Tea looked down at the desk, drank the rest of her tea, and said, "I only care about you, God forbid. I know that's kind of a difficult concept and all, but I was only trying to be nice."

Hearing a small chuckle, she quickly glanced over to see him turning his head back around to face her, a small smile on his face. "You're always trying to be nice," he repeated from the previous night. She smiled even though she tried not to.

"It's something I'm good at," she countered, her smile turning into a smirk.

"Yes…yes you are."

"But really, what's the matter? You never sleep during school? Problems at work or something?"

"No…nothing at the company. Everything's as fine as it usually is there."

"Well then, what's up?" she asked when he didn't continue.

"Could you seriously go away?" he questioned, glaring over at her before turning his head back around. "I already said I don't feel like talking to others right now. In fact, I was sleeping rather nicely before you came over here."

Placing her hand on his shoulder, she began to slowly move it in circles to comfort him. She could feel the tenseness in his shoulders and suddenly became worried. "It's not healthy for an eighteen-year-old to be this stressed out over something," she noted as she continued to rub his shoulder.

"Did you not hear what I just said? How about I rephrase it? I don't feel like talking to you right now, so could you please leave?"

Tea immediately stopped her hand motions and took her hand back, glaring slightly at him. "Oh, so you can be totally nice to me last night when nobody was around, but now that we're in a school building, you have to become the big, bad CEO? Is that it? You can't be caught talking to one of Yugi's friends out in public; what would happen to your freakin' reputation? Fine, you obviously don't want somebody to talk to. I just figured I would be nice since you were last night, but you apparently don't want that." She quickly stood up and went to grab her backpack when she felt a hand seize her wrist. "What, now you want me to stay?" she spat back, glaring over at him to see him staring up at her. "Which is it? Nice or not?"

She watched as he slowly looked down at the desk and let his hand holding her wrist fall onto the tabletop. "I'm sorry…" he whispered after a moment passed between the two. Clasping the bridge of his nose, he said, "I just…I'm above exhausted, so right now talking to people isn't the most appealing thing. I apologize."

Taking the hint, she slowly sat back down in the seat and waited as the CEO stared at the cup of tea that Mrs. Asuka placed in front of him before taking a small sip. "So why don't you want to talk to me?" she asked in a quieter tone, now hoping that her outburst hadn't attracted much attention. She didn't need rumors spreading around school about her and Seto Kaiba being together. "Guess I should've thought about that beforehand…"

"Let's just say you and I won't be going back to that place anytime soon," he stated, setting the cup back down. She could see the bags under his eyes, and he placed his head in one hand, supported by his elbow resting on the table, before closing his eyes.

"Why not?" she asked, worried that her hug or holding his hand might have seriously offended him. "See Tea? No skanky stuff!"

"It's not your fault," he added, his smirk turning into a frown. "I just…can't go back there."

"Sophie…" Tea blinked as understanding slowly seeped into her mind. "You talked about her, and now you can't get her out of your head?" It was more a statement than a question, and Tea knew that the CEO knew who 'her' was.

"Something like that," he admitted, letting out another sigh.

"Is that why you couldn't get any sleep?"

"I tried to. I went to bed shortly after I arrived home since there wasn't much to do with the company, surprisingly enough. I only slept a half hour before I woke up in a fit. Fucken nightmares…" He whispered the last part and took another sip of his tea, making Tea curious.

"Why would he have nightmares about his ex-girlfriend?" she questioned. "Seriously, what the hell happened between these two?"

"After about two hours, I fell back asleep for another forty-five minutes," he continued, either oblivious to her zoning out or indifferent to it. "Then I woke up again, and I just gave up with the whole sleeping thing."

"So you're running off of an hour and a half of sleep?"

"Basically, yeah."

"Talk about unhealthy…"

"That's why I'm sleeping right now. But thanks to you, I guess that idea went to Hell."

"Sorry…"

"It's okay. I don't mind, actually." Smirking, he glanced over at her and said, "I don't want to wake up like I did last night here. That would be rather embarrassing."

"How so?"

"Tea, you've had to have had a nightmare before. You don't exactly wake up by just opening your eyes, you know?"

"Yeah…" She remembered waking up to nightmares. It was after her boyfriend left her for that whore of a woman when she began having them. Just the thought of her ex-lover with another woman nearly drove her mad. After all, the two had been dating for nearly three years. Breaking up on a note like that left its mark on her.

"Alright class, we'll be leaving shortly!" the teacher announced as she stood in the center of the room. "Begin packing your things up, and don't worry! There are still two more days left to work before this assignment is due!"

"Better get our stuff," Seto commented as he slowly rose out of his chair. "Guess I'll be sleeping next period…"

"Yeah, I guess." She watched Seto pick his bag up and look over at her, his eyes turning from angry and frustrated to a bit sad.

"Again, I apologize for telling you off like that. It's just… I'm not trying not to think about last night. I guess I figured pushing you away would help that, but…" Shaking his head, he frowned and said, "Just know it has nothing to do with you." He quickly walked around the desk and out of sight, leaving Tea alone in the corner of the library.

"Seto… I guess the times we're sharing right now…don't go under 'good times'… After all, how could they if they only bring up past events? Dammit, why can't he just tell me what's wrong?! I could help him out!" Hearing the bell ring, she slowly picked her bag up and left the room. "I'm asking Mokuba about Sophie. And I'm getting an answer."